Walking aid for small children



P 1952 B. DUNKELMAN WALKING AID FOR SMALL CHILDREN Filed June 17, 1950 m FM 5 1 u m .9 2 ,O 3 n M w 2 H U A 6 M, 2 V I W J m? f 6 a a m 4 Patented Apr. 29, 1952 nun-so STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,594,625 WALKING AID FOR SMALL CHILDREN Benjamin Dunkelman, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application June 17, 1950, Serial No. 168,686

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a walking aid for small children.

Walking aids for smaller children have previously been proposed in the form of a frame work having a canvas seat suspended therewithin so that the small child may be partially seated therein while touching its feet to the floor and by moving its feet, can move the framework around a room or the like. This type of device may help to strengthen the muscles of the legs of a small child but the child is not really in a proper position for walking and very often it is only able to touch its toes to the floor. This tends to promote an unnatural walk which may later have to be corrected. Furthermore, it is necessary in such a device for the child to use extra energy because the framework has to be pushed around with the result that the child may be actually delayed in finally walking by itself. Finally, a framework of this kind is a relatively complicated article and which may be the cause of damaging and scratching furniture, etc., when brought into contact with these articles.

The present invention provides an aid for teaching a child to walk which avoids the disadvantages of such prior proposals and provides other advantages.

According to the invention, I provide a rotatable arm positioned on the top of a pedestal, which may be disposed at a height convenient to the childs arms, which may be grasped thereby for support while the child walks in a circular path around the pedestal. Preferably, the vpedestal is mounted on a platform base which will give substantial support to the pedestal. A means is provided for adjusting the height of the rotatable arm or arms to accommodate the height of the child and a means may also be provided for controlling the freeness of rotation of the arm or arms. Preferably also, means is provided for operatively connecting a music box with the rotating arms so that the music produced by r the rotation of the arms tends to become an incentive for the child to operate the device.

The invention will be fully understood by reference to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved walking aid according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof showing the platform base folded to form a more compact article when not in use.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken through the complete device.

Figure 4 is a section taken along the line 4- of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective detail showing the sliding sleeve and shaft connection which may be employed in the unit.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates the walking aid as a whole which is generally comprised by rotatable element B which preferably includes opposed arms ID and H, the rotatable element being mounted on a main pedestal C which in turn is supported by a base D which may be circular. The base D is of sufficient diameter to provide a platform upon which the child may walk and which will firmly support the pedestal without requiring that the latter be heavily weighted. Alternatively, however, the platform might be dispensed with and a heavily weighted pedestal C employed, or the pedestal might. be fixedly secured to a floor or other such mounting in the case of nurseries or the like.

A rotatable element B is designed to be fixedly connected with a central vertical shaft l2 in any suitable manner and is rotatably j-ournaled in the bearing sleeve l3 disposed in the top of the pedestal C. The shaft I2 is designed to be vertically adjustable to position the rotatable element B at varying heights which may be accomplished by disposing the lower end of the shaft in the rotatable sleeve M in driving engagement therewith, which may be achieved by longitudinally slotting the sleeve as at 15 so as to receive the laterally projecting pin it which is anchored in the lower end of shaft l2 and which may be screw threaded at its outer end to receive the wing nuts I! so that not only does the pin provide for driving engagement between the shaft 12 and the sleeve id but the wing nut functioning in combination with it, provides a simple means for setting the rotatable element B at suitable height through vertical adjustment of the shaft l2. The rotatable sleeve 14 may be supported by any suitable bracket such as the U-bracket is rising from the base of the pedestal. Moreover, in order to provide for change in adjustment of the shaft relatively to the sleeve, a suitable door or the like HA may be formed in the side of the pedestal and through which access to the wing nut I1 is readily obtained.

It is desirable to control the freeness of the rotation of the rotatable element B. This may be accomplished by providing the friction bracket l9 (see Figure 4) which may employ a hardwood element 2|] recessed as at 2| to engage the sleeve M and upon which the hinged metal element 22 is mounted recessed as at 23 to engage the shaft 1 2 and having the arm 24 projecting therefrom which may be engaged by adjusting screw 25 to increase or decrease the pressure of the friction bracket on the sleeve [4.

Preferably, the walking aid includes a music box E mounted within the base of the pedestal and designed to be operated from the shaft l2 as the rotatable element B is turned. The operating shaft 25 of the music box E is connected in driving engagement with the sleeve l4 so that as the shaft I2 is rotated by the rotatable element B the sleeve I4 and alsothe shaft 28 of the music box E is caused to rotate. As a result, the child will cause the music box to be played while walking and rotating the rotatable element B.

As indicated, it is preferable to employ a platform base for the device and in order to render the unit more compact, the two sections 21 and 28 of the platform base D may be hinged to a central section 29 therefor so that, as shown in Figure 4, the sections 2'! and 28 may be folded upwardly so that the device will take up less room when not in use and it also may readily be transported through doorways, etc.

From the foregoing it will be clear that I have provided a very simple device for aiding a small child to walk which has the advantage of urging the child to walk in a natural manner While giving some support thereto and by the use of a music box it tends to provide a device which becomes very attractive to the child as it learns that the use of the rotatable element will produce pleasing sounds. Finally, it is within the scope of the invention to include and/or pedestal, suitable pictorial illustrations, patterns, or the like, which also will be attractive to the child and tend to encourage the child to use the device.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A walking aid for small children comprising, a pedestal, a rotary element rotatably mounted on top of the pedestal, said element having an arm projecting laterally therefrom beyond the pedestal, the rotatable mounting of said rotatable element including a rotating shaft extending within the pedestal, a rotary sleeve within the pedestal designed to receive said shaft in driving engagement therewith and means for vertically adjusting the shaft relatively to the sleeve to raise and lower the rotatable element.

2. A walking aid for small children as claimed in claim 1, in which means is provided for controlling the freeness of rotation of the rotatable element.

3. A walking aid for small children as claimed in claim 1 in which the rotary sleeve is formed with a longitudinally extending slot and said on the platform shaft is formed with a laterally projecting pin slidably receivable in the slot of the sleeve to connect the shaft in driving engagement with the sleeve.

4. A walking aid for small children as claimed in claim 3 in which the laterally projecting pin on said shaft is screw-threaded and a nut mountable on said pin to clamp said shaft to said sleeve at a selected elevation.

5. A walking aid for small children comprising, a pedestal, a rotatable element having an arm projecting laterally from said rotatable element and forming a handle to be grasped by a child for support while walking around said pedestal, means rotatably mounting said element on the top of said pedestal, means operatively connected to said rotatable element for controlling the freeness of rotation thereof, said mounting means including a shaft fixedly connected to said rotatable element and rotatable Within said pedestal, a sound making device disposed within the pedestal and means operatively connecting said shaft and said sound making device to cause sound to be produced by the child as it causes said arm to be rotated.

6. A walking aid for small children comprising, a pedestal, a rotary element rotatably mounted on top of the pedestal, said element having an arm projecting laterally therefrom beyond the pedestal. the rotatable mounting of said rotatable element including a rotating shaft extending within the pedestal, a rotary sleeve within the pedestal designed to receive said shaft in driving engagement therewith, means for vertically adjusting the shaft relatively to the sleeve to raise and lower the rotatable element, a music box within the pedestal and means operatively connecting the music box with said shaft whereby rotation of the rotatable element will cause said music box to play.

BENJAMIN DUN KELIVIAN,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 554,179 Gerl Feb. 4, 1896 903,731 Kull Nov. 10, 1908 972,310 Wintermute Oct. 11, 1910 1,051,067 Bernadzikiewicz Jan. 21, 1013 1,427,296 Jakubiec Aug. 29, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 651,584 France Oct. 9, 1928 

